Former Galveston County Judge Ray Holbrook appeared before the Gulf Coast Water Authority Board of Directors on Thursday on behalf of new County Judge Mark Henry. Listen: MP3RealPlayer

"My report concerns the Condrey study that y'all had done," Holbrook said, referring to the report by Condrey & Associates which suggested that personnel problems between General Manager Robert Istre and staff are causing problems for the authority. "I've read it a couple of times and Mark Henry has seen it and is concerned about it."

Holbrook asked that the board defer action on the report until it meets with Judge Henry to discuss his concerns.

The board voted to require Istre to revise the procedure for his monthly report on facility operations to require that division directors report directly to the board. Listen: MP3RealPlayer

Thus, Istre deferred his January report until next month.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Guidry News Service talked to Pearland Mayor Tom Reid and Sugar Land Council Member Russell Jones, who are non-voting members representing Brazoria County and Fort Bend County at the GCWA, about Wednesday's vote by Galveston County Commissioners Court to oppose legislation sponsored by Senator Joan Huffman to extend voting rights to their counties.

"Our council has passed a resolution supporting that effort," Reid said.

Jones said the Sugar Land City Council agrees.

"We assumed that Galveston County and the Gulf Coast Water Authority will honor its written commitments it's already made to us," Jones said. "We have a written commitment that we have been relying on for years and now we are suddenly finding out that they don't want to abide by their commitment. I have a little bit of a problem with that."

Reid said that the legislation will be considered as a "local" bill and opposition by Galveston County is significant.

"That, in my mind, has effectively killed the bill," Reid said.

R.C. Williams, chair of the GCWA board, said he supports the position of Galveston County Commissioners Court. Listen: MP3RealPlayer

"I represent the county," Williams said, noting that he was appointed to the board by the commissioners court. "So I will be voting against (the Huffman bill) too."